JICA to support community clinics for safe motherhood

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has decided to provide technical support for community clinics through its US$ 6.0 million Safe Motherhood Promotion Project-II (SMPP) for enhancing maternal and neonatal health (MNH) service in the rural areas. "If we want to ensure safe motherhood in rural areas, we must use a good number of community clinics as about 75 per cent of deliveries are still taking place at rural houses," JICA's SMPP Technical Adviser Dr Tajul Islam told the BSS Saturday. The government has already established more than 10,000 community clinics and has a target to raise the figure to 13,500 by 2012, the official sources said. As per the plan of the community clinic project, the government will set up 18,500 community clinics across the country by 2014, the sources added. Under the SMPP-II project, Dr Islam said the Japanese experts would impart various kind of training to the personnel of community clinics and its partner organisations to enhance the capacity of providing reproductive healthcare service of the clinics. As part of the technical assistance, JICA imparted orientation training to the representatives of nine partner organisations of community clinic project in the city Saturday. Japanese experts Toyokazu Naqkata facilitated the training, while SMPP-II Chief Adviser Yukie Yoshimura explained his Japanese experience on communication skill to the participants.